


Not What It Seems

by Sky99



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Burns, F/M, Injury, Partial Nudity, Tumblr Prompt, Writing Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-29 21:19:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3911062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sky99/pseuds/Sky99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Varric catches Tarvia in a vulnerable state with Bull and storms off. She chases after him in order to fix things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not What It Seems

**Author's Note:**

> This was a Tumblr prompt from Anon.

"By the Stone! Bull!!!" Tarvia curses at the Qunari mercenary as he dabs the damp cloth against the burns on her chest. She had been roasting a freshly skinned rabbit that Bull had caught when a rather large crow had clipped her back, causing her to tumble into the campfire, effectively catching fire to her tunic and trousers before quickly being doused with the bucket of water Bull had retrieved for his bath. Her clothing hung in charred tatters from her body, revealing several angry red blisters on her torso, arms, and legs. She had stiffly walked back to her tent, closely followed by the worried Qunari. Once inside, she attempted to peel what once was her favourite tunic, which was gifted to her by Varric, whom she adored immensely. The large mercenary stopped her once he realized how much pain she was in from having attempted to undress, and took out his dagger in order to cut the rags off of her. Her breast band fell off on its own as the tunic was removed, much to Tarvia's dismay. She quickly tried to cover herself, but winced at the pain it caused in her body.

"Come on, Inquisitor, it's not like I haven't seen a woman naked before. We need to get you cleaned up." Bull explained patiently. The dwarf paused for a moment, then she lowered her arms in defeat. Bull paid no mind to the half naked dwarf sitting on the cot before him as he reached over to grab a cloth and wetted it before wringing out the excess water. He slowly started patting down the blistering skin, rubbing off the ash and dirt that came from the fire pit gently. After he finished her legs, arms, and back, he paused.

"Inquisitor, I need to clean your chest now. I need you to turn around." Tarvia sighed and was almost too nervous to face him with her lack of clothing, but she did as he asked. He removed the dirt from her collarbones and gently cupped her left breast in his hand so that it wouldn't move too much as he cleaned it. His face was almost uncomfortably close as he concentrated on causing as little distress as possible. She grunted louder than she thought she would as the blistered skin ached and then heard a small gasp. Bull's head jerked up, as well as her own, to find Varric standing in the doorway, his face ashen. She realizes what it must look to him, her being half naked with Bull bent over her breasts.

"Varric, it's not--" Tarvia starts, but the rogue just turns on his heel and storms off back through the tent flap. She could hear Dorian ask him what had happened to the camp and why he was so upset, but she didn't hear a response. She jumped up off of her cot and grabbed one of her tunics, wincing as she struggled to pull it over her head. Bull just sits where he had been with a worried look on his face, not sure what had just happened. She leaves him in the tent and frantically scans the camp, but doesn't see Varric anywhere.

"If you're looking for our dwarven friend, he went that way. I'd be careful if I were you, he looked rather upset about something. He took a bottle of my wine with him." Dorian told her, upset that out of all the alcohol in the camp, it was his wine that Varric chose. They had been rather discreet about their relationship; she didn't feel that her inner circle needed to know everything about her private life. She crossed the treeline into the forest cautiously and began the search for her lover. She heard the faint scratching of pen against paper and quietly followed it. She spotted the outline of Varric's shoulders as he sat against a tree with his back to her. The uncorked bottle sat on the ground next to him.

"Varric?" She spoke softly, her voice timid and nervous. The scratching stopped for a moment and then resumed. She slowly came around the tree and grunted painfully as she sat on a log across from the other dwarf.

"Inquisitor." It hurt her that he had referred to her by her title, instead of her name or the nickname that she had grown fond of.

"I need you to know that what happened with Bull wasn't what it looked like."

"And so you're here to enlighten me." He looked up from his writing to stare into her eyes, his own full of grief. He reached over to the wine bottle and drank a large portion of it.

"Varric, he was just cleaning my wounds!" Tarvia exclaimed. The look in his eyes softened a bit, but the sadness returned after a moment. "I had fallen into the campfire while I was cooking and caught flame. It burned my clothing ‘til it was practically falling off and I have several burns to prove it!" The sadness on his face turned to shock as he jumped up and rushed to her side. He kneeled beside her, taking in the angry blisters that were at first concealed by the sleeves of her tunic.

"Bun... I'm sorry for behaving the way I did, especially since you're injured. I just got upset, especially since I have something i need to tell you." Tarvia's brows furrow.

"Especially? What does what you have to tell me have to do with your being upset?"

"I... Oh, how do I say this? Shit, I've never been good at this stuff." Tarvia's jaw drops. She's never known her dwarf to be rendered speechless by anything, not even when she had stood naked before him for the first time. He always had the right thing to say flowing out from between his lips. She waits patiently for him to collect his thoughts, and he takes her hand in his. "I love you." He searches her face for any kind of reaction, but she winces a bit. His face falls and she realizes why.

"Oh, Varric! I didn't mean- You must understand it's growing rather painful to sit on this log! I-" she hesitates a little and Varric's expression grows more hopeful. "I love you too." She smiles at him and he grins widely before gently taking her in his arms and kissing her passionately, the strong taste of the Tevinter wine sweet on their lips.


End file.
